Flowers After Rain
by eight-triagram princess
Summary: Ino has been training with Tsunade when she can, but she isn't doing that great. She's too embarrassed to go back for help, so she seeks the help of a certain pinkette. SakuIno\InoSaku
1. Chapter 1

**A\N: This is a story I've wanted to write for a while. If you like SakuIno as much as I do, you should like it :D I hope you enjoy! Leave a review if you see any mistakes or if you have any comments. There will be at least a second chapter. :3**

Sakura Haruno had just gotten done with training with Tsunade for the day. She walked down the street towards her home. As she walked along, thinking about the events of that day, she looked up to find Ino standing in front of her apartment building. "I wonder what she's doing near my house?" she whispered to herself. Sakura approached her.

"Oh, hey Ino! What's up, how are you?

"Oh, I'm okay. You've been training with Tsunade today right?"

Sakura nodded.

"I see," Ino continued, "I've been asking her once in a while when she's not busy to teach me some medical ninjutsu. But I haven't been doing very well. I get confused at times. I was hoping to run into you so that I could ask your help. I'm too embarrassed to go back to Tsunade for help again."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly.

"You want my help?" she asked, slightly puzzled.

"Yeah! I mean you are one of the best medical ninja in the Leaf."

"Oh, I guess so, heh." Sakura laughed nervously.

"So will you help me?" Ino asked, sticking her bottom lip out and making a pleading face.

"Sure, yeah. I think I can do that."

"Great!" Ino clapped her hands together, blushing and smiling with her eyes closed like she normally did. "Can you start tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm free." Sakura said smiling at her friend.

"Awesome! Thank you! Anyways, I'll let you go do whatever you were gonna do. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sakura walked home, entered the apartment, shutting the door behind her, and placing her medical ninjutsu book on the counter as she walked towards her room. She sat on her bed and changed into her regular outfit, and placed her headband on her nightstand.

She looked at her clock, it was 5 o'clock, and she laid on her bed. 'I'm feeling beat,' she thought., 'I've been training so much and it's wearing me out.'

She laid there thinking about how she'd train Ino. 'I'm gonna train someone. That's great. I'll be of some help, finally.' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

(The Next Day)

Sakura woke up, remembering that today was the day she'd help Ino with her medical ninjutsu. She wondered if she'd be any help, but she'd definitely try.

As she exited her house, the thought of helping Ino made her blush. She put a hand on her cheek as she walked down the road. "Am I blushing?" she whispered to herself, and her cheek got warmer. She shook her head in disapproval, trying to rid herself of her red face.

She continued her route down the street, looking at the ground as she walked. Suddenly, she bumped into someone while she was staring at her feet, lost in thought. She looked up. "Oh, excuse me I'm sor- Oh, Ino! I'm sorry! I wasn't paying much attention."

Sakura noticed that her blonde friend had dropped a few books, so she picked them up, and handed them back to her friend. "That's okay, and thank you." Ino said, taking her books. "I thought I should bring these since we're going to be studying medical ninjutsu."

"Good idea, Ino."

"Thank you."

The two walked to the bare training field to study there. Sakura used a summoning scroll to summon a fish like Tsunade did to train her.

"Okay, so use your medical ninjutsu on this like I'm sure you have before."

Ino nodded, focusing some chakra on said fish. Sakura watched, and Ino's hands were glowing rather dim.

"You're not focusing enough. You are doing pretty good, though. Try clearing your mind and focusing only on the task at hand."

Ino closed her eyes, doing as she was told. Her hands gradually began to glow brighter.

"Great! You're doing awesome!" said Sakura, proud of her blonde friend and herself for giving such helpful advice.

The fish started to move again, and Ino looked at it, grinning, and then smiling at Sakura, blushing. Sakura noticed the blush and blushed herself. Sakura smiled at her best friend, putting a hand on her shoulder and saying, "Good job."

"I'm really glad to be improving!"

A few hours passed, and Ino and Sakura were walking home.

"Ino, you did really well today. I'm proud of you, you're improving already." Ino smiled at Sakura, thanking her. "Do you want me to walk you home?" Sakura asked Ino.

"Oh, well sure. I mean if you want."

Sakura smiled and walked her friend home. The walk was quiet and the sky was very starry. They both ended up being quiet and staring at the sky.

When they reached Ino's house, Sakura hugged her and told her to have a good night. She turned around and began to walk towards her house. She realised that she was thinking about Ino a lot, in fact that was all she could think about, but she couldn't figure out why.

Sakura was feeling sort of down now. She got home, opened the door, then when she closed it, she leaned against it, sighing. She felt off that day, and didn't know why. She was constantly thinking about Ino.

Sakura sighed yet again, trying to process why she couldn't get the image of Ino smiling and blushing out of her mind. She went into her room, laying on her bed. She stared at the ceiling, but all she could see was Ino's smiling face.

She turned over, confused. 'Why am I feeling this way? Could it be I... like her? I can't have feelings for her like that, can I?' she thought to herself, and fell asleep shortly after.


	2. Chapter 2

**A\N: Hello! I really hope that some people are enjoying this... I'm kinda proud of it myself XD there will probably be a couple more chapters, not sure how many though. Anyway! Enjoy! Please review!**

Sakura laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She found that her first thought was about Ino. She sat up slowly, reaching for her headband on her nightstand, and put it on. She then changed into her ninja outfit.

"Maybe I should go see her today." She said aloud to herself.

She slowly walked out of the house, quietly shutting the door as to not wake up her mother.

She hopped down the stairs, and stopped at the bottom. "I'll see if she needs help again." she said, continuing to walk down the street.

Sakura approached Ino's door, knocking on it rather quietly. She didn't think anyone heard, so she was about to knock again, but right as her fist was about three inches away from the door, it was suddenly opened, and green eyes met blue ones.

"Oh, Sakura! I was about to come to your place to see if you wanted to study with me again today."

Sakura felt her face go red, but tried her best to ignore it. She nodded in response.

"Sure. I was gonna ask the same thing, heh." she said, nervous and violently blushing. She took notice of the fact that Ino was blushing quite a bit herself.

'_Should I tell her?_' she thought to herself. '_No, I should wait. She'd probably think I'm crazy._'

"You okay, Sakura?" Ino asked. "Oh, yeah I'm fine," Sakura replied, waving her hands side to side in front of her. " I was just zoning out a bit. Sorry."

Ino smiled at her pinkette friend. "That's okay."

They walked outside to the same place they had studied before in the training field. Surprisingly there was hardly anyone there. Lee was on the other side sparring with Neji, and Hinata was watching them.

Sakura and Ino sat down in their usual spot, out of the way of Neji and Lee's sparring.

They practiced with the fish again, and this time Ino was able to instantly heal it.

"Wow, Ino! You're getting so much better!" Sakura said, patting her blonde friend on the back.

"We should go to the hospital to show Lady Tsunade your progress. She'll be proud of you."

(At the Hokage Mansion)

"Lady Tsunade," Sakura began, pushing the door open slowly. "I've been helping Ino with her medical ninjutsu," she opened the door, walking over to Tsunade who was sitting at her desk listening. "and she's made a lot of progress. I think she could try healing a person already, I guess the methods I taught her were a little easier for her to understand."

"That's great news, Sakura. I trust your judgement. There is someone who has a broken arm in the hospital, why don't we see if Ino is up to the task?"

"I can try, milady." Ino said, feeling rather proud of herself. The look on her face was so happy and cute, it made Sakura blush like she was imitating a tomato.

She found herself staring at Ino's smile, and shook her head as if to shake off the redness. _'I need to stop thinking of __Ino like this, she'll notice and think I'm crazy... or... would she?'_

Inner Sakura joined the internal conversation. '_**You need to tell her! Tomorrow's white day! It may be for boys to give gifts to girls, but neither of you is a boy, so it doesn't matter! Cha!'**___

_'I guess that's true... maybe I'll give her something tomorrow for white day and tell her. Maybe it isn't as crazy as I think. I'm probably making a much bigger deal out of this than it is.' _

Ino turned to Sakura. "Zoning out again?"

Sakura blushed when she realised that she was having an internal conversation with herself and ignoring the others.

"Oh, you're right. Sorry about that."

The three kunoichi walked over to the hospital, entering the room containing the patient with a broken arm. Ino opened the door, and found her fellow blonde friend.

"Naruto? You're the one with the broken arm? How'd you break it?"

"Sasuke pushed me out of a tree."

"What? How'd that happen exactly?"

"Well he was sitting in a tree staring off into the distance, so I jumped up there next to him and asked what he was doing, and he said 'go away,' and pushed me out, and I landed on my arm."

"Damn, that sounds painful."

"Yeah. Who's gonna fix it?"

"Ino is." Sakura said with a smile.

"Really? I didn't know Ino was a medic."

"Yeah, she is. She's been training with me and Lady Tsunade."

"I see. Well I'd really appreciate it if you could help me out, Ino."

"Of course!" Ino replied, walking over to Naruto and kneeling next to him.

Ino put her hands on either side of Naruto's arm. She closed her eyes and focused on her chakra being poured into his arm and stitching it back together.

Naruto winced at the slight pain as it healed.

"I'm sorry." Ino said quietly with her eyes still closed.

She stopped focusing her chakra, putting her hands in her lap. She opened her eyes and looked at Naruto.

"Is that better?" Ino asked with a hopeful expression.

Naruto moved his arm around, and put slight pressure on it with his opposite hand.

"Wow, it's not broken anymore. You did a really good job!" He smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"I'm so glad!" Ino replied, clapping her hands together and smiling.

"Wow, I'm impressed, Ino." added Tsunade.

"Thank you, milady!"

"Thank you for your help, Sakura." Tsunade said, smiling at her apprentice.

"Oh, it was no problem milady."

"Ino, Sakura, why don't you two go home? I don't have anything to do today, so I don't need you around. Go take a break today, you two."

"Yes milady." Ino and Sakura said in unison, then looking at each other, laughing and blushing.

Sakura and Ino exited the building, walking down the street towards their houses. After about a minute, they heard Naruto calling them.

"Hey Sakura! Ino!"

The two kunoichi turned around, spotting the hyperactive shinobi.

He caught up to them, stopping and putting his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "You guys want to get some ramen with me?"

Sakura and Ino looked at each other and blushed. They looked back at their friend.

"Sure." They said at the same time again.

The three ninja walked to the ramen shop, sitting down and ordering their food.

They talked for about an hour, then went to a park and ended up talking about what they'd been up to the past few days for a few hours. When it started to get dark, Ino stood from the bench they were sitting on, and told Naruto and Sakura, "I should get going. I've got a mission to escort someone from the Cloud to here tomorrow."

She bowed, said goodnight, and left.

Sakura found herself watching Ino leave. Ino actually looked back once and waved to her before continuing.

When she was gone, Naruto looked at Sakura. "Hey, Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"You like Ino don't you?"

She began to internally yell, '_Oh no! He can tell?! I hope it wasn't that blatantly obvious to __Ino__!_'

"Sakura?"

"W-Well... yeah..."

"I could tell by the way you were looking at her all day today."

"Oh, dear. Tomorrow is white day, and I was planning to get her something. I was gonna tell her how I feel as well."

"I think that's a great idea, you should do that. I'm going to do the same with Hinata, for Valentine's day last month she made me a cake and bought me this bracelet," he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a silver bracelet with orange charms. "So tomorrow I'm gonna buy her flowers and tell her I love her."

"I'm so glad for you! I've been rooting for you two."

"Well now I'm rooting for you and Ino. Hey, I should get going too. I've got a mission as well. Are you gonna wait for Ino to get back to tell her?"

"Yeah, that's the plan."

"Good luck."

"You too!"

Naruto left, and Sakura stayed put for a few minutes, thinking about how she'd tell Ino her feelings. She was zoning out as she usually did when she was lost in thought, and she snapped out of it when she felt a drop of rain hit her nose. She looked to the sky and saw that is was raining lightly now.

"I should go home now." she said aloud to herself.

Sakura walked home, feeling suddenly tired. When she entered her house, she shut the door behind her, leaning against it and bending her knees so she could slide down it into a sitting position on the floor.

She sighed, taking off her headband and tossing it on the counter. Just then, her mother came into the room. "You okay, Sakura?"

"I've come to a realisation."

"Really? What's that?" Her mother asked, puzzled.

"I love Ino."

"Ino?! wow! I wasn't expecting that!"

"You're not mad right?"

"No! I don't care who you like, you're still my daughter."

"Thank you. I'm gonna get her something for white day in the morning."

"Good idea!"

"I'm really tired, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow."

"Okay, well goodnight."

Sakura went into her room, kicking off her shoes, and flopping onto her bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

**A\N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A\N: Woo! only a couple more chapters to go.**

Today was the day that Sakura would confess her feelings to Ino. She got dressed and walked out the door, wondering how she'd do it.

"Today is white day, so that fits the situation, I suppose." she said aloud to herself.

She closed the door behind her quietly as to not wake anyone. She knew Ino would be back pretty soon, but she probably had enough time to go get some gifts.

**'Go to the flower shop! She loves flowers. She isn't there, so this would be the perfect time, otherwise she would have you figured out.'** Inner Sakura said, snickering.

'True. Oh, she likes those flower shaped chocolates too.'

**'She loves purple. Get the purple ones.**'

'Yeah. I'll do just that. She'll love it, right?'

She jogged down the street to the flower shop, where she saw Inoichi standing at the counter.

"Oh, hello Sakura! How can I help you today?"

"I just need to get some flowers for... Naruto."

"Oh! I see. For white day? What did he get you?"

"Oh, um, actually he uh, didn't get me anything before, I didn't get anything from anyone, I just wanted to do something nice for him."

"Well that's thoughtful."

"I think he likes those purple ones." She pointed to a bouquet of purple carnations.

"Those are Ino's favorite too."

"Oh, really?"

**'Perfect!'** Inner Sakura yelled.

Inoichi nodded as Sakura grabbed the bouquet, and brought it to the counter for him to ring it up.

"Well thank you!" Sakura said as she left.

Sakura stood outside of the flower shop, looking across the street at the glass door with a round peppermint candy on it. She knew they sold flower shaped chocolates there that Ino would love.

She entered the shop, looking to the woman at the counter.

"Hello. Do you have those colored flower shaped chocolates?" Sakura asked.

"Yes we do. To your left."

She looked to her left and spotted clear plastic boxes with different colored chocolates. They were all shaped like cherry blossoms, but they had a box for every color of the rainbow.

'She'll like the purple ones, right? Purple's her favorite color.'

**'Heh, yeah it is.'** snickered Inner Sakura.

Sakura picked up the purple ones, which had a faint scent of lavender.

She brought them to the woman to ring them up, and thanked her as she left.

Sakura stopped when she stepped outside the door, sighing.

'How am I going to do this?'

She thought that she may as well just go and see how it goes, so she did just that. She reached the green gates of the Leaf, stopping there and waiting for Ino to come back. She sat on a bench, and waited about ten minutes, and she saw Ino approach the village. She waved goodbye to a man wearing a Cloud headband, and she looked directly at Sakura.

**'Everything will be fine.'**

'Yeah, I think it will.'

Ino got closer.

'Everything will be fine, right?'

**'Right. Stop being so nervous! Just tell her!'**

Sakura sighed as Ino was getting closer.

"Sakura!" She called. She stopped in front of Sakura, who was still sitting, and then she stood to face Ino.

"Who are the flowers and candy for?"

Sakura shot her arms forward towards Ino, gifts in her hands. She tilted her head down and closed her eyes.

"M-Me? Why?"

"I, uh, I... I have been feeling something for a while now."

Ino took the gifts from Sakura's hands.

"Thank you. So you have been feeling what...?"

"I, um... like you..."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I love you!"

Ino stared at her pinkette friend.

"What?"

"I love you so much, Ino..."

"But, Sasuke."

"What about him?"

"You love him..."

"No, I mean it's true the old me did, but I think of him as more of a brother now. When I'm with you, especially the last couple days, it's completely different."

Sakura looked up, and opened her eyes, looking into blue ones.

"We're practically the same person, and when I'm around you-"

"Sakura, that's enough. There's just no way you can like me... But thank you for the gifts, that was very thoughtful. I love them. I should get going, I have to meet Shikamaru to discuss a mission tomorrow."

"Ino..." Sakura said, holding back tears that threatened to fall.

"I'm sorry." Ino replied, walking away with a guilty expression.

Sakura was speechless. She didn't know what to say, so she watched Ino walk away.

**A\N: Sorry, that was probably shorter than the last ones by a little bit. o: don't worry, there should be a new one very soon! Thank you! Review, please!**

**-Eight Triagram Princess **


	4. Chapter 4

**A\N: Wooo! I'm so excited for this to be finished. Getting closer! I really hope everyone will like it. Please review.**

Sakura walked home, not knowing what else she should be doing. As she neared her apartment building, she heard a familiar voice.

"Sakura!"

She turned to see her hyperactive friend.

"Oh, hey Naruto."

"How'd it go? Ino passed me holding the gifts. I didn't say anything to her. I noticed she was staring at them, though. Is that good?"

"She told me she doesn't believe me, but she thanked me for the gifts and told me it was appreciated."

"You confessed your love and she didn't believe you?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Yup."

"Wow, that's harsh. She must have been staring at the gifts cause she was confused or something."

"Yeah, probably." Sakura said, sighing, and sitting on the stairs of her apartment building.

Naruto sat next to her.

"I'm really sorry." he said, patting the back of her shoulder.

"What should I do, Naruto?"

"Hmm." he had an expression that said he was thinking about it.

"Well," he continued, "I think you should try to prove it. Leave notes, keep getting her gifts until she understands. Ask her out on a date. If she says no, say okay, and just don't ever give up on her."

"I can try that. I mean if I keep coming back that really says something right? If I don't do anything she'll always believe it was a lie."

"Exactly!"

Sakura hugged him.

"Thank you. That's really good advice."

"Of course!" He smiled and gave her a thumbs up like he did often.

"I'm gonna try to win her over!" Sakura said, smiling at her best friend.

"That's the spirit!" Naruto said cheerfully, and patted her on the back encouragingly.

"So how'd it go with Hinata?" Sakura asked, almost forgetting about it.

"Oh, Sakura, it was amazing! I approached her while she was training. I stood behind a tree and watched her until she noticed I was there. Then she spotted me and said 'Naruto?' So I walked over to her with her favorite flowers and handed them to her. She looked confused, so I said 'These are for when you gave me this bracelet.' I showed her that I was still wearing it, and also told her that I wear it every day because it's so special to me. She smiled and said 'you're welcome, I'm glad you like it so much.' Then I told her I love her and she started to cry so I hugged her and asked her to be my girlfriend. We're official."

"Oh my god, that's great!" Sakura hugged Naruto. "I'm so glad you finally got with her! She's loved you for years."

"Yeah, she told me when Pain attacked. A few months after that was Valentine's day, so she gave me this bracelet," he pointed to the bracelet, "and I was actually really surprised even though I knew about her feelings. She's always so quiet and shy. But she's perfect. I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend."

Sakura's eyes welled up slightly.

"I'm so happy for you two! I've been rooting for you! You guys are so cute, haha!"

Naruto blushed and laughed, putting an arm around Sakura.

"Thank you for the support."

"And thank you for yours."

Sakura put her arm around Naruto too, and said "I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you do for me."

"You're my best friend, it's no problem. Hey, you wanna get some ramen?" Naruto asked, standing up and holding out a hand toward her. She took it, standing up with him.

"Sure. But you're paying."

They ate ramen and talked for a few hours until it started to get dark.

"I should get going. I'm pretty tired. Thank you for the ramen." Sakura said, standing and then proceeding to hug the knucklehead.

Naruto nodded. "Any time, Sakura."

Sakura bowed and left the ramen shop, walking back home and flopping onto her bed as soon as she entered the room. After a pause, she sat upright and stared at the wall.

"Maybe I should write a letter."

She reached over to her nightstand and pulled a notebook out of the drawer as well as a pen. She found a blank page and began to write:

_'Ino: I know what I told you before was hard to believe, but I have to tell you that when we were kids, you were the one that saved me! You lifted me out of the dark hole I fell into when everyone was bullying me and I had no confidence because of my big forehead. I thought I was ugly because of it. But you made me see that I'm beautiful just the way I am, and I shouldn't have to hide my flaws. I still have that ribbon you gave me, because it reminds me of that fact. I think that I've always loved you, I just didn't realise it until recently. I realised it when we started to spend more time together, and I noticed that when I was around you my heart would race, and I felt myself blushing. I know you're probably confused, but please believe me when I say I love you.'_

Sakura folded up the paper, jumping out her window and landing silently on the ground. She looked to her left and saw a bush of purple flowers. She picked one, sticking it in the letter. She then hopped over the buildings and reached Ino's house, slipping the note under her door, and leaving without a sound. As soon as she got back, she flopped on her bed and laid there for a while, nervous about the reaction she'd get tomorrow.

"I hope she doesn't get mad at me because she thinks I'm lying again. But if she still doesn't believe me, and I keep it up, she'll believe me eventually. Heh, that idiot isn't as much of an idiot as I thought." Sakura said to herself, smiling.

**A\N: Yessss! I am on a roll, guys. Thank you for reading! Review please!**

**-Eight Triagram Princess**


	5. Chapter 5

**A\N: Almost done! I hope you enjoy the end.**

(Two weeks later...)

Sakura was walking down the street. She looked around, saying hello to a few people she knew. Just then, she saw Ino in the distance. She had asked her out twice last week, and left gifts and letters at her house before that.

'Oh no, what if she's annoyed?'

Ino started to approach her.

'You'll be fine. She doesn't look mad.' said Inner Sakura, almost annoyed.

'But she might be...'

'Nope. Stop worrying.'

'Okay... Okay. I can handle this.'

"Uh, Sakura, I need to speak with you." Ino said, blushing and trying not to smile.

"What is it?"

"Well, you've been asking me out and sending me gifts... well, I really appreciate that, and the truth is... I, uh..."

"I'm sorry. I must have scared you. I'll stop, I just wanted to convey my feelings..."

"N-No, I... I love you too."

"W-What? Really?" Sakura's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red.

"I'm so sorry I didn't believe you before... it just didn't seem real because you had liked Sasuke, but you wouldn't be focusing on me if that wasn't true... I have always loved you too, I just would never admit it because I thought it was wrong, but it's different to know that you feel the same way. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. But I do now, seeing that you kept trying for me..."

"Ino..." Sakura welled up.

Ino hugged the pinkette.

"Thank you, Sakura."

"Of course!" Sakura replied, smiling and wiping a single tear just before it was able to fall down her cheek.

"So, would you like to go get some food?"

Sakura nodded, taking Ino's hand and running off.

They passed Naruto and Hinata who were holding hands, too.

"Hi!" Naruto yelled after them, and Hinata waved.

Sakura and Ino went to the barbeque, and the whole time was spent talking about their feelings, and how they felt about telling each other or anyone else.

"So you told Naruto before me, huh? Anyone else?"

"No, I was too afraid to tell anyone. But I trust Naruto more than anyone."

"Ah, I see." Ino said, taking a bite of food and smiling. Sakura did the same, and they both stood, Ino put the money on the table and they left.

They walked over to a nearby pond, sitting in front of it, and putting their feet in the water. They didn't know what to say, so they just looked around at the sky and the stars that were barely showing. They watched the sunset in complete silence, just enjoying each other's company.

Sakura scooted closer to Ino, putting an arm around her waist, and Ino did the same as they stared at the sky, feeling better just to know that they were together.

**A\N: Yaasss! First finished story. Please please please review!**


End file.
